Image Generating AI and Implications for Teacher Preparation
Author: Samantha Goldman; info@ciddl.org
The conversation around AI and further technology innovations is a hot topic. The use of generative AI to turn words into images has gained more traction recently. This blog explores the effectiveness, accuracy, and feasibility of using AI to turn text into images.
How Do You Do It?
Several image generators use AI. Some require a paid subscription or tokens, whereas others are free. Using the generator is as simple as logging into your preferred AI generation site and entering a prompt. With some generators, you can upload your image and ask the AI to change the background, lighting, outfit, etc. With others, like Open AI’s Dalle-3 and Canva’s Magic Media, you provide a prompt to generate the entire image.
Implications for Special Education Teacher Preparation
Within special education, we know the value of using visuals to support student learning. Oftentimes, finding the perfect visual can be time-consuming, be it for a lesson or communication board. Image-generating AI can help teachers with this endeavor. To prepare teachers to use these tools, they must be exposed to them within their pre-service teacher education programs.
What are the Drawbacks
It sounds perfect, right? You are giving a presentation or creating a lesson and need a specific image. Rather than spending hours searching through images on Google or some other site, you can enter exactly what you want into the AI prompt, which spits it out… Or does it? In the following sections of this blog, we will share (1) specific prompts used in image generators, (2) the image generated, and (3) a critique of the image, including how the image is “broken.”
We will start with a prompt from Canva’s Magic Media: “Cartoon children playing with legos. one student using an augmented communication device.”
The output:
At first glance, it has met the parameters of the prompt. However, upon closer inspection, you start to notice some things about the image that are off. For example, an extra hand is near the child in the green shirt.
The following image generator we tried was Freepik. The prompt we gave it was “realistic professor standing in front of a college class. the class should have flexible seating. there should be a diverse group of students in the classroom. students should have devices or laptops.” Here are a few examples of what it created:
While none of these images have any extra appendages, they still do not fully align with our desired prompt. None of them are realistic. Several do not have devices. The setting needs to be corrected in others. In some cases, the age of the students is wrong.
Tips for Introducing Image-Generating AI in Your Teacher Preparation Programs
- Understand that creating prompts to generate images is an iterative process. The first prompt you provide often will not generate your desired image. Ensure that you take a process approach to image generation.
- There are a multitude of AI image generators. Explore various ones and identify their strengths and drawbacks. Provide pre-service teachers with more than one option to explore. Check out There's An AI for That for a database of AI image generators.
- Give time to play with the tool. While image generation technology has several educational and instructional uses, it is essential to realize that it is also fun. Give your pre-service teachers time to explore the tool and be silly. For instance, the prompt for the below image asked for a “dog flying an airplane with a turtle as the copilot and elephants as flight attendants. luggage in the overhead bins should be falling out. all passengers should be sea creatures. They should all have snacks in front of them”.
- Align the tool to classroom usage. To increase the effective use of technology in pre-service teachers’ future classrooms, teacher educators need to model how to integrate innovative technologies into evidence-based practices and other classroom uses. Explore with pre-service teachers how to use this technology to craft lessons, provide accommodations and support for their students, and ultimately positively impact student outcomes.
Join the Conversation!
Have you used AI image generation? Which AI have you used, and what are your thoughts? How have you embedded these tools into your pre-service teacher education course? Join the conversation in our community.